Gemini
by Alryssa
Summary: (S2) Bob, Dot and Enzo find themselves in a bizarre Game that is a duplicate of Mainframe, with no readily apparent way out... (Ch 5 revised)
1. Gemini, Part 1

Time scale: nano = second | second = day | hour = month | cycle = week  
  
  
Gemini: Part One   
by Alryssa  
  
Author's note: Many thanks to Threnody for the loan of Adena!  
  
  
Green lightning crackled around the Tor. Bob watched the spectacle with unusually vague interest from inside the Diner as he nursed an energy shake. Enzo, sitting across from the Guardian, followed his gaze.   
  
"What do you think MegaBreath's up to?" the young sprite asked. "It's been like that over there for three seconds!"   
  
Bob shrugged, his eyes not leaving the scene.   
  
"I don't know. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."   
  
Enzo frowned. "What's wrong, Bob? I thought you'd be the first person to be go over there and see what he's up to."   
  
"He hasn't done anything that I'm aware of, Enzo. I can't just go barging in. For all I know it's something short-circuiting... and with Hack and Slash around, I wouldn't be surprised." He grinned wryly.   
  
The last few seconds had been unusually quiet in Mainframe. No Games, no Upgrades, nothing. And Bob was bored. If there were anything more stressful than a bored Guardian, it probably hadn't been invented yet, Dot mused, as she watched the two sprites start playing Frisbee... with a plate. Moving quickly, she managed to intercept the spinning projectile just before it reached Bob's waiting hand, snatching it out of the air with fierce intent, and followed it up with a hard stare at the Guardian.  
  
"Bob, you should know better," she scolded, some small part of her enjoying the adult sprite's sheepish but apologetic look. She sighed. "Why don't you both go play jetball or something?"   
  
"But we played jetball yestersecond! That's boring!" Enzo whined, slumping back at the table.   
  
Dot sighed. "Isn't there *anything* you boys can do - and *not* get into trouble for?"   
  
It was Enzo's turn to shrug. She contemplated assigning the two to washing up duty, but before her suggestion could be worded, the sky turned a familiar purple hue.  
  
WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME.  
  
Just this once, Dot actually felt relieved. Bob seemed to reflect that relief in his face for a moment, before he turned and shot out of the Diner with Enzo in hot pursuit.   
  
"You're in charge here, Cecil," Dot called over her shoulder as she set off after them.   
  
Cecil flailed his spindly arms in his usual windmill fashion.   
  
"Of course, madame," he said. As the Diner door shut behind her, he turned to the kitchen and sharply addressed the slacking kitchen knives. "Come along now, you excuses for Ginsu's! Chop chop!"  
  
  
* * *   
  
Bob felt the crackling surge of energy as the Game Cube descended upon him, the moment of disorientation as it settled, the Game becoming the new reality; for now at least. He checked immediately to see who else had entered the game. Dot and Enzo had made it in with him. Good. He was about to assess the game stats with Glitch when he noticed that Dot and Enzo were staring at the scene right in front of them. Frowning, Bob followed their stare. He blinked. He looked again.   
  
"What the... Mainframe?!"   
* * *  
  
Dot somehow found her voice as Bob and Enzo stared at the scene.  
  
"I don't believe it. It's the Diner! And Baudway! And... " she trailed off, looking around, noting all the familiar things. Sure enough, there was the park... binomes going about their business... everything was identical to Mainframe.  
  
Bob looked at Dot and Enzo, who both shrugged. He shook his head in disbelief.   
"This is *weird*."   
  
"Guess we should get on with it, right?" Dot prodded, disturbed as she was by the situation. "The less time I'm here the less... creeped out I'll be."  
  
"Right," Bob agreed. The three sprites tapped their icons.   
  
"Reboot!"  
  
Enzo looked down to see what he'd rebooted as, wondering for a nano that if this game was really like Mainframe, maybe he'd 'boot as a Guardian for a change.   
  
Dot cautiously opened an eye.  
  
"Nothing happened!" Enzo wailed. "I'm still me!"  
  
"Same here, Enzo. Nothing. We're still us! Bob, just what is going on here?"  
  
Bob looked just as confused as he consulted his keytool.  
  
"Glitch - Game stats!"  
  
Glitch chirped, its readout screen flipping up. Bob studied it for what seemed to Enzo and Dot to be forever. Around them, the duplicate Mainframe continued its 'business' as usual, completely oblivious to the three new arrivals standing in front of the Diner.  
  
"Well?" Enzo asked, impatiently. "What are we supposed to do?"  
  
  
"Uh..." Bob looked up from the readout, a worried expression on his face.   
  
"This can't be good," Dot sighed. "What's wrong? Is Glitch broken?"  
  
The Guardian looked mildly affronted at the suggestion.   
  
"No... it just... can't seem to access any stats."  
  
Dot threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh, great!"   
  
"I'm sure we can figure this out ourselves, Dot! We've done it before. We just have to think... logically."  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Call me strange, but I like to have a plan of action."  
  
"Uh, guys?"   
  
"What is it, Enzo?" Bob turned to the young sprite, somewhat glad of the interruption.   
  
"Well... this is Mainframe, right?" The two adult sprites nodded. "And what do we do in Mainframe?"  
  
The Guardian's bemusement slowly turned to realisation.   
  
"That's it! We play the Games!"   
  
Dot frowned. "You mean we have to wait for another Game, within the Game?"  
  
"Precisely! We just have to wait for one to come along." Bob folded his arms and managed somehow to look satisfied with that explanation, to Dot's intense annoyance.  
  
"Bob, that could be nanos!" she protested, dreading the thought of sitting it out again, if only at the risk of another incident of plate frisbee. "We can't just wait around - the User has to be here somewhere!"  
  
Bob looked around again at the unsettlingly familiar environment.   
  
"Your guess is as good as mine, Dot." She could be right - but how would they know?   
  
Dot followed Bob's lead and took in the Diner once more, watching the binomes inside socialising. Everything was the same... but not. She shuddered.   
  
"So... we wait, then?" Enzo poked. He didn't relish the idea of waiting around on his ascii either.  
  
"I guess I can try and scan everyone here, see if any of them are the User," Bob offered, "but it would take at least the better part of a second. I don't know that we have that much time."   
  
"Better get started, then," Dot answered. "At least until this 'Game' arrives."  
  
Bob looked at her helplessly, then shook his head and walked into the Diner.   
  
"What - "   
  
"Got to start somewhere!" he shot back over his shoulder. Enzo followed him inside, Dot close behind.  
  
  
End Part 1 


	2. Gemini, Part 2

Gemini: Part Two   
by Alryssa  
  
  
"Well?"  
  
Bob looked up from his keytool, meeting Dot's worried gaze.   
  
"I'm going as fast as I can, Dot... Glitch can only do so many scans at a time before it has to recharge."  
  
The three sprites were sitting in a booth inside the Diner. Bob had been scanning code almost constantly since he'd walked in the door, pausing barely long enough for Glitch to recover. So far, there was no sign of the User. All the binomes they'd seen in here were all game constructs, following what would appear to be pre-programmed paths.  
  
Dot stared at the table nervously. Then, for just a split-nano, she thought she could see *through* a section of it - through the surface, to the ground beneath the Diner. She frowned, closed her eyes, then opened them again. It was still there. She blinked again, then nudged Bob.   
  
"Bob, can you see what I'm seeing?" she asked, gesturing to the offending spot.  
  
The Guardian ceased scanning briefly to stare at the centre of the table. He squinted, blinked, and then looked again.   
  
"I see it, Dot."  
  
"That's a relief," she sighed, "I was starting to think it had more to do with my lack of downtime lately. What do you make of it?" she asked. "Minor power loss?"   
  
"It's a possibility," he replied. As they watched, the translucent 'hole' faded, returning solidity to the table once more. "Glitch - background task. Monitor energy levels of this Game and sound alert if they drop to critical level."  
  
Dot nodded, feeling a little better that she wasn't going mad, but she made a mental note to get some healthy downtime after this was all over.   
  
"This will slow Glitch up a bit, but I don't want us to be unprepared if this cube crashes," Bob said, and went back to his original task.   
  
"I don't think we're in much of a rush here," she answered, observing her little brother's apparent boredom.  
  
Enzo gazed around, his head cradled in his hand, his elbow resting on the table, hoping he might see another young sprite; even if it was just a game sprite. Anything for some time with someone else close to his age! His eyes glazed over, his thoughts turned inwards... until, that is, he felt a tugging on his sleeve.  
  
"Hnh?" Startled from his brief reverie, he looked down to the source of the tugging.  
  
"I *said*, what's your name?"   
  
A small girl sprite, not much younger than himself, was looking right at him with deep purple eyes, contrasting with her blue skin and silver hair. She wore teal overalls and a purple T-shirt, and a quizzical expression on her round face. Enzo doubletook, then managed to regain his voice.   
  
"Uh... my name's Enzo. What's yours?"  
  
The girl grinned and looked almost smug as she folded her arms and proudly announced her name.   
  
"I'm Adena, and I'm a Guardian!"  
  
Something about her demeanour reminded him of Bob, who was currently oblivious to them, poring over more scans, his frustration becoming ever more evident. Dot had just noticed the new sprite, her eyes widening as she prodded Bob in the arm.   
  
"Ow, what - "   
  
"Bob, look!"   
  
Bob glanced up from Glitch's readout screen.   
  
"Hello there," he waved. Dot nudged him again, and hissed at him to scan her. Bob shook his head at her. He already had - she wasn't the User. Adena frowned at the two adults, apparently annoyed her conversation with Enzo had been interrupted.   
  
"I don't like grownups, especially when they whisper. That means they're doing something they shouldn't," she stated, very matter-of-factly. She turned back to Enzo as Bob and Dot exchanged amused looks. "I'm bored. Want to play?"   
  
"Where are your parents?" Dot asked her.   
  
Adena turned back to Dot with an exaggerated expression of frustration. She was about to reply when a huge commotion from outside the Diner caught everyone's attention. The three sprites were on their feet instantly, trying to see what was going on.   
  
Binomes and sprites scattered in all directions before the oncoming chaos. Bob thought he could hear yelling as it approached. The big red blur became more defined as it hurtled closer. It was a large, classic red hovercar, clearly way out of control... and it was heading right for the Diner.  
  
"Get down! Now!" Bob yelled, ducking for cover under the table as the car screamed in towards them.   
  
There was an earache-inducing noise like an incoming missile, culminating in a large crash, as the car met the ground, slid for several feet, then came to a rest, rear end up, just outside the Diner. One of the Diner's windows cracked in protest. Several tinkling noises followed as the car's chrome embellishments fell off. A wing mirror dropped to the ground and shattered. As a last insult, the back bumper detached itself and clanged noisily as it met its final resting place.  
  
There was a deafening silence for a few nanos while the system held its breath. Finally, Bob, Dot and Enzo snuck a peek over their table to see the young Adena, totally unruffled, nodding and smiling knowingly.   
  
"*That's* my mom," she said proudly.  
  
  
  
End Part 2 


	3. Gemini, Part 3

Gemini: Part 3  
  
  
  
  
Dot gave Adena a distinctly worried look as she got to her feet. Whoever this maniac parent was shouldn't be taking care of a child! She shook her dark head and ventured a look outside. Bob was already out there, searching for the driver - Adena's mother - in the wreckage. The car was still up-ended, folded into itself like a spring. She winced, hoping that whoever it was had been thrown out of the car before it had hit the ground, then berated herself for staying in here when she should be outside helping.   
  
"Enzo, come on. We've got to help Bob," she said.  
  
Bob had run outside the moment he knew it was safe. He surveyed the damage for a nano, then heard some muffled cursing and a *whump*. It sounded like a boot being put into whatever was left of the car. He examined the wreckage. Looked just like his own hovercar. The idea of it being totalled like this would probably make him lose his temper too, he mused, as he walked around what was left of it to the source of the voice. Whoever Adena's mother was, she seemed to be fine. She'd probably done  
more damage to her dignity than herself.  
  
"This is not good. This is not good... stupid flux valve..."   
  
Bob narrowly avoided being hit with a thrown spare part.   
  
"Whoa!" he said, ducking as the part - a power gauge, he noted - skimmed past his head.   
  
"Hmm? Who's that?"   
  
A head popped round what had been the car's passenger door, now upended with the rest of the vehicle. Bob took one look at the owner of the voice and almost choked.   
  
It was like looking into a mirror. Her silver hair was a little longer than his, and her face was definitely a woman's, but she was as close to a feminine version of himself as one could get. She was also wearing a Guardian uniform just like his; albeit a slightly singed one. This was Adena's mother?   
  
"Do I know you?" she asked, a spanner in one hand, her face furrowing in possible recognition. "You look familiar."  
  
Up until a nano ago, Bob would have had several different smart replies to that question, but as of now, they all went out the vidwindow. Instead, he just managed to do a very good goldfish impression.  
  
"Don't say much, do you?" she continued.  
  
Bob managed to blink. His doppelganger looked mildly amused. "You're new around here. What's your name?" She broke eye contact briefly to toss the flux valve she'd complained about back into the mess. Bob managed to access his vocal chords again.   
  
"Uh. Yeah, I'm new."  
  
Another frown.   
  
"Are you sure I don't - wait a nano..."   
  
Suddenly, she grabbed Bob's arm and yanked him with her to the one wing mirror that had amazingly remained intact. Silence, as she stared at Bob, then at herself in the reflection. Then, her grip loosened, and she stepped away from him.   
  
"Who are you?" she asked, suspicion colouring her voice, her stance cautious. Bob couldn't really blame her - he wasn't feeling too comfortable right now either.   
  
"I'm a Guardian," he offered.   
  
She gave him a withering look.   
  
"Well, duh." She seemed to ease up a little as she regarded him again. "There's no way you're dangerous," she said finally, brown eyes reflecting humour as she grinned, "you're too much of a dork."   
  
Bob began to protest, but thought better of it, and tried a different tack.  
  
"You uh, did a good number on your car, there."  
  
She sighed. "Flux valve. Should have known better than to pair it with a 'z' gauge ring."   
  
"'Z' gauge? No wonder you lost it..."   
  
Bob crouched down by the crumpled front end of the car to inspect the damage.   
  
"All new hubcaps too," she added mournfully, picking up a crumpled piece of round metal which had once adorned a wheel.   
  
  
That was how Dot and Enzo found the two of them, discussing repair options and inspecting parts.   
  
"Bob?"  
  
Both turned and replied simultaneously. "What?"   
  
Enzo's jaw dropped. Dot blinked a couple of times.   
  
"Bob?" she asked again, looking from one to the other.  
  
"What?" they both replied again; then turned and frowned at each other. "That's your name too?" they each asked of the other; then realised this was getting them nowhere, and gave up.   
  
Dot stared in utter confusion at the two.   
  
"Who... what... oh, User..."   
  
"Nice to meet you too," the second Bob replied, then redirected her attention to Bob. "Um. So. Your name's Bob?" Bob nodded. "Hmm. That is weird. Well, it'll make life interesting, I suppose." She shrugged, then addressed Dot. "Don't tell me your name's Bob as well, or I'll have to start labelling people."  
  
Dot smiled despite herself, then nudged Enzo.   
  
"Enzo, you're gaping."  
  
"Huh? Oh... sorry, Dot." He stepped forward, and offered a handshake to the Guardian. "I'm Enzo. Are you Adena's - "  
  
"Mother, yes, and yes, it's a long story, and yes, I am her only parent, before you ask."   
  
She seemed to direct that last part to Dot, who looked away with a sheepish expression on her face. Concern suddenly took hold. "Is she all right?" She moved quickly past the three newcomers to see the entrance to the Diner, just as Adena opened the door - not without some effort for a young sprite - and hurtled outside.   
  
"Mom!"   
  
"Hey, Trouble..." her mother chuckled as Adena ran to her and wrapped her short arms around her waist. "You're all right?"  
  
"I'm OK, Mom. Look! I've got a new friend!" Adena pointed at Enzo. "Can I play with him?"  
  
"It's rude to point, honey."   
  
Adena rolled her eyes. "Sorreeeee."   
  
"So where did you folks come from?"   
  
Bob was about to reply, but Dot interjected. "We come from another system. We're just, you know, travelling around."   
  
"You with him?" A gesture towards Bob.   
  
"Yes. He's... sort of our tour guide, you could say." Dot smiled, in what she hoped was a convincing manner.   
  
The doppelganger's face darkened.   
  
"Enzo, do you know how to play jetball?" she asked casually. Enzo nodded, puzzled. "Adena, why don't you and Enzo go play, hmm?"   
  
"Cool! Come on, Enzo!"  
  
Dot shot a worried look at Bob, but didn't stop Enzo from leaving with Adena. It was probably best if Enzo wasn't around to listen. Bob returned the look with equal concern.  
  
Once the female Guardian was sure the two kids were out of earshot, she gestured towards the Diner.   
  
"Let's talk. And this time... don't lie to me."  
  
  
---  
  
End Part 3 


	4. Gemini, Part 4

Gemini, Part 4  
  
  
  
Bob - the female Bob, that is - wiped the grease off her hands with a rag as she sat opposite the other Bob and Dot inside the Diner. Bob noticed now that the other Guardian had no keytool; and debated asking about it. Maybe she was a cadet? No. That didn't make sense. There should be another Guardian here to supervise her training. Her icon looked similar to their own; but its colours were reversed. Another strange quirk. Bob mentally kicked himself. All this scanning and he hadn't even thought to scan her yet! She could be the User! He sighed. He couldn't do it now... it would be obvious; not to mention rude. And if this sprite wasn't the User, they'd probably need to be on her good side to get this Game's objective fulfilled.   
  
"All right," she said. "Where do you really come from?"   
  
"Dot was telling the truth," Bob said. "We come from another system."  
  
She rolled her brown eyes at him. "Well, that much is obvious. I want to know *why* you're here. The Collective doesn't let Guardians take off whenever they feel like it."  
  
"We're here... to play the Games."  
  
An even deeper frown. "All right, let me get this straight. You came from another system to play the Games here? What's wrong with your system?"  
  
"The Games don't come very often, and they're no real challenge for someone like me. Dot here is thinking about becoming a Guardian, and well... I needed somewhere more suitable to get her used to the gamespeed inside the Supercomputer. Mainframe was top of my list for a test or two."  
  
A glance at Dot, who nodded sagely.   
  
"And you couldn't tell me this before?"   
  
"Well, I couldn't, not in front of Enzo... he's still a little young for the Games."  
  
"So why bring him?"  
  
"He's my brother, I didn't want to leave him behind. He's all the family I have," Dot spoke up.   
  
The other Bob sighed, and tossed the greasy rag onto the table.   
  
"I still don't think you're telling me the truth here, but it's a little better than the story you gave me outside."  
  
"You said I couldn't possibly be dangerous," Bob prodded, still smarting somewhat from the 'dork' comment.   
  
"I *said* you couldn't be dangerous; that doesn't mean you're incapable of stirring up chaos here. It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen... but it seems you're doing a good job of it so far." She squinted at Glitch. "What *is* that?"   
  
Bob glanced down at his keytool.   
  
"This?" He looked across at Dot, and then back at his double. "It's my keytool... Glitch. Don't you have one?"  
  
She shook her head. "What, am I supposed to have one?"   
  
"All - "   
  
Dot smothered Bob's mouth with a hand before he could go further.  
  
"He's a higher-level Guardian - they're the only ones who get them," she offered.   
  
"But he just said - " she looked at the other Bob, who was prying Dot's fingers from his mouth - "Oh, good grief. I give up."   
  
WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME.  
  
Inside the Diner, the three sprites watched as the sky darkened.   
  
"Well," the female Bob said, getting up from the table, "you wanted to play the Games... here comes one now. Care to join me?"   
  
* * *  
  
Outside, the Guardian called up a vidwindow as she flipped her zipboard right-side up, and nodded an acknowledgement to the binome who answered.   
  
"Where is it this time?"   
  
"Sector 080. Good luck."   
  
She grinned back at him. "Stay frosty," she replied, and closed the vidwindow. Bob doubletook.   
  
"Hey, that's my - " He was interrupted by a sharp elbow in the ribs from Dot. "Ooof."   
  
"Did you say something?"   
  
Bob gritted his teeth and shook his head as he hopped onto his own zipboard, and the trio sped off towards Sector 080 to meet the Game Cube. As they approached, Dot took the opportunity to ride closer to Bob, hanging back behind the strange Guardian.   
  
"Bob... did you scan her yet?" she hissed at him.  
  
Bob looked sheepish.   
  
"No... but I'll use the scan of the Game stats to do that. I don't think she's the User, Dot."  
  
"We don't know that! This whole thing is just so weird... I don't know what to think anymore," she  
sighed.  
  
"Chances are we're about to meet the User in this game, like I theorised. We win the game, we get home. Simple."  
  
"Simple? So far this has been anything but!"  
  
Bob shrugged helplessly as the Game Cube descended upon them.   
  
* * *  
  
"So," Bob asked his doppelganger, "If you don't have a keytool... how do you access the Game stats? How do you know what to do to beat the User?"  
  
His counterpart stared at him.   
  
"Intuition," she replied eventually, as she assessed the mountainous surroundings they now found themselves in. "It's not hard. The User is the one who tries to delete you, dorkasaurus."  
  
"Oh boy," he muttered, resisting a counter-insult with considerable effort.   
  
"You got a better method you'd like to share?"   
  
Bob nodded, allowing a smug expression to spread across his face. "Glitch - game stats!"  
  
His keytool chattered and flipped up a readout screen for him as she watched. The Game didn't seem complex. He used the chance to also scan the other Guardian as he'd intended, quickly checking her code. And then checked it again.  
  
"And?"   
  
He looked up from Glitch as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't.   
  
"What?"  
  
"Your keytool?"  
  
"Oh. Uh, the User has three lives; looks like he's lost one already... objective is to gain control of the base somewhere in that direction - " he pointed off and up to his right; " - we have to blow up the bridge to stop him getting across the river to attain it." He looked up from Glitch. "That doesn't sound too hard," he said, almost amused by the simplicity of it.  
  
It was a nano before he noticed his counterpart, as well as Dot, were staring at him - no - *past* him.   
  
"What?"  
  
The other Guardian said nothing, but took him squarely by the shoulders, and turned him around to see what they had been looking at. He paled.   
  
The structure in question lay just in front of them, straddling a huge ravine, at the bottom of which was, presumably, the river mentioned in the game stats - they were too high up for him to see it. The bridge itself was something on the scale of the Gilded Gate.  
  
He looked back at the two sprites, all thoughts of code-checking forgotten.   
  
"This is bad. This is very bad..."  
  
  
  
-----  
  
End Part 4 


	5. Gemini, Part 5

Gemini, Part 5  
"Well," the other Bob said, "let's do it."  
  
The three tapped their icons.  
  
"Reboot!"  
  
A moment of disorientation, and the trio were all rebooted into army fatigues. The doppelganger Bob immediately took charge.  
  
"All right, let's get this show on the road." She turned to Dot. "You, go find us some explosives. Bob, you come with me to rustle up some friendly game sprites - "  
  
Dot coughed, politely. The two Guardians looked at her. She pointed smugly to the stripes on her sleeve. The sprites looked puzzled, then glanced down at their own uniforms.  
  
"Hey! How did you get to be the sergeant?" the other Bob frowned. She wasn't keen on the idea of a complete stranger to her system taking command.  
  
Dot grinned. "I guess being in charge just comes naturally."  
  
"It's OK," Bob said. "She's experienced at this. I'll vouch for her."  
  
Silence, as the other Guardian assessed the pair of them for a nano, then sighed, turned, and walked away down the rocky path.  
  
"Where are you going?" Dot called after her.  
  
The Guardian froze in her tracks, and swivelled slowly to face them. "I'm going to locate some explosives for the bridge." She paused, realising that Dot was the one 'in charge'. "Unless you have something better for me to be doing...?"  
  
"Take Bob with you. I'll go and find some troops."  
  
The other Bob gave a half-hearted salute, and continued on her way down the mountainside. Bob shook his head. "This is not good..." he murmured.  
  
"Do you have an issue with me being in command?" Dot narrowed her eyes at him.   
  
Bob held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa! I'm not saying anything!" Her half-serious glare didn't abate. "All right! I'm going!" he said, and followed his counterpart at a jog.  
Behind them, Dot chuckled to herself.  
  
* * *  
Bob caught up to his double some way down the path. She glanced at him.  
  
"Hey," he said, trying to be friendly.  
  
"Mm," she answered, noncommittally, then stopped and turned to survey the treacherous landscape. The rough-hewn path ran, zig-zag, down the mountain. The bridge stood not far from them now, a huge expanse of steel, wire and wood almost a mile long and wide enough for a truck to cross.  
  
"Oh boy," he muttered.  
  
"You read my mind."  
  
He checked the Game stats again quickly. The User was five levels away. They had to work fast if they wanted to rig anything. He told his counterpart, who nodded.  
  
"There're a lot of caves here. There's got to be something in one of them..." she replied, gesturing to her left.  
  
Bob peered into the blackness, then checked his uniform's utility belt. "Ah-hah!" he said after a moment.  
  
"What - ow!"  
  
"Sorry!"  
  
Bob quickly turned the flashlight's beam away from the other Guardian as she raised a hand to shield her eyes, blinded by the sudden light. She made a minor sound of annoyance as she fished out her own flashlight, and then followed him inside the cave. It seemed like several nanos before his double yelped excitedly and grabbed his arm.  
  
"Bingo!"  
  
* * *  
"I hope this is going to be enough," Bob thought aloud, a worried expression on his face as he surveyed the five crates. The other Bob looked up from the dynamite she was unpacking.  
  
"We just have to use it wisely," she replied. "Put it at the weakest structural points on the bridge."  
  
He frowned, and inspected the bridge once more. "I say we go for the midsection," he said after a nano. "The most structural strain will be there."  
  
She grinned. "You read my mind again. Here, take this." She thrust a bunch of dynamite at him, wires exploding from its top like some bizarre kind of carrot.  
  
"Wonder where our backup is," he murmured, as he took the explosives from her carefully.  
  
"Right here!"  
  
Bob turned to see Dot, and waved cheerily at her. She had five binomes in her wake, all in army camouflage.   
  
"Bob..." Dot said, then as the other Bob looked up from her work she trailed off. "Uh... not you... the other Bob. Whatever."   
  
The double shook her head and redirected her attention back to the dynamite.  
  
"Got a plan, Dot?"  
  
"Yes. Take these guys with you, and start setting the charges at the midsection."  
  
"Yes, sir!" he grinned. "You, you, get that crate - carefully!" he winced as the two binomes hefted the explosives just a little too roughly.   
  
* * *  
  
Bob paused a moment in the centre of the bridge, and gazed out at the ravine stretching away in either direction. The gusting wind moaned as it whipped through the canyon. So peaceful, he thought. So hard to imagine time was against them. They had two thirds of the charges down so far, and were waiting on the last batch.  
  
He turned quickly as he heard the sound of a car engine approaching. It couldn't be the User already! He was about to check Glitch when his counterpart pulled up next to him in an Army jeep, a big grin all over her face.  
  
"Hey! I've got the last of the charges. Look what I found!"  
  
Bob managed to slow his heartrate back down as she peered at him, concern on her face. "Are you all right? You look like you've seen the User..."  
  
"Well, for a moment there, I thought I had," he admitted, sheepishly. He checked Glitch once more on the User's current location.  
  
"How long?" she asked.  
  
"Not long. Two levels now."  
  
She nodded, as she hopped out of the jeep. "Right."  
  
"Where's Dot?"  
  
"She's wiring the detonator," the Guardian said, as she hauled a crate from the back of the vehicle. She handed it off to him, then gave him a hard look. "You'd better hope she gets it right, or we'll all be deleted."  
  
Bob frowned at her in vague annoyance as he passed the crate to a waiting binome. "Trust me, OK? She'll do it!"  
  
His counterpart pulled another crate out, then paused to catch her breath before responding.  
  
"Put yourself in my position for a nano, OK? This is my system, my responsibility. You three show up out of nowhere with a shaky story at best, and now your friend is in charge of a Game. Yeah, I know, you say she's experienced - but *I* don't know that. I don't know that *you* are, for that matter. Think about it."  
  
"Look, for what it's worth... I'm sorry that we weren't exactly truthful before. But between us, we can deal with the User. I mean it, though - we know what we're doing - both of us. I wouldn't lie about that."  
  
His double moved to haul a reel of fuse from the back seat, and met his earnest gaze as she looked up. She couldn't suppress a slight grin.  
  
"I guess it'll be all right." A shrug. "You know her better than I do." She glanced over her shoulder at the small troop of binomes working furiously on the charges. "Where are we at?" she called.  
  
"Four more and we're ready!"  
  
The two Guardians nodded. "How are we doing on time?" she asked Bob. He looked at Glitch's readout screen, and his expression changed rapidly to one of near panic.  
  
"The User is now one level away, and getting here fast!"  
  
She paled. "Oh, boy. Guys..."  
  
Bob took the reel from her. "I have an idea. I'll attach the wiring..."  
  
* * *  
  
The jeep pulled up beside Dot in a cloud of dust. She glanced up, coughing and waving the dust away, to see the two Guardians and the binomes all piling out. One of them handed a fuse reel to her. She looked at it, and then saw the fuse snaking back across the bridge.  
  
"Charges set, Ma'am," it said.  
  
She nodded, then narrowed her eyes at the two sprites.  
  
"Wait... did you guys just do what I think you did...?"  
  
"It was his idea," the doppelganger gestured to him with a thumb, smirking.  
  
Bob grinned. "Fastest way to lay wire I could think of." His expression became more serious as he added, "the User is on this level now. He could get here any nano."  
  
Dot tossed a set of binoculars at him. "Right. Go and keep an eye out for the User. I've got everything set. I just have to finish wiring the detonator up and we'll be ready to go."  
  
He nodded as he caught the binoculars with one hand and moved off to a good vantage point near the bridge.   
  
"Here, I'll help," Bob's counterpart offered, as she threw her gloves into the back seat of the jeep.  
  
Dot moved over to allow her access to the detonator. The two worked in silence for a while, before the Guardian spoke up.  
  
"I'll put a five-second delay on this thing, just in case."  
  
"In case of what?"  
  
Dot didn't get to hear the answer, because at that moment she glanced up to see Bob waving his arms around like a windmill. He was yelling, but with the gusting wind it was hard to hear exactly what he was yelling about.  
  
"Bob? What the - "  
  
The other sprite had already jumped up and was running to Bob's side. He turned to her as she approached.  
  
"Is it the User?" she asked. He froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. The Guardian narrowed her brown eyes at him. "What *is* it?" she asked again. Not getting an answer from him, she took the binoculars from him, raised them to her eyes and looked for herself.  
  
She saw the User - albeit distantly - for the first time, also in Army fatigues, but of a different colour. It was heading towards the bridge, gun in hand. All right, she thought, what was the big deal? No. Wait. There was a small buggy just ahead of the User, crossing the bridge, but awkwardly, zig-zagging from side to side like it was dodging...  
  
Bullets! The User was firing at it! She squinted, tried to make out who was in the small vehicle. The buggy barely reached the midsection of the bridge before a bullet hit a tyre, shredding it instantly, forcing the vehicle to tip over on its side. Two small sprites tumbled out, then dove for cover behind it as the gunfire rained down on and around them.   
"What in the 'Net..."  
  
She stared for a nano, not certain she could believe her eyes, then -  
  
"ADENA!"  
---- 


	6. Gemini, Part 6

Gemini, Part 6  
  
  
  
  
Furious, the female Guardian turned on Bob, and shoved the binoculars roughly at him.  
  
"Your stupid friend Enzo dragged my daughter into the Game!" she yelled, fury burning in her brown eyes.  
  
Bob looked quickly through the binocular's lenses. She was right, confirming his original suspicions. Enzo was huddling with Adena in the remains of the light buggy.   
  
"Look, I'll go and get them while - "   
  
"NO!" Her tone implied she was not to be argued with. "Go and set the detonator, and as soon as I get the two kids in the car, hit it!"  
  
"But - "  
  
The other Guardian was already running down the path hell-for-leather towards the jeep.   
  
"Wait!" he called after her, but he already knew he couldn't persuade her to change her mind. He swore, and ran down to meet Dot as his counterpart threw on a helmet and gunned the jeep's engine.   
  
"What's going on?" Dot asked of her, over the noise.   
  
"Your idiot brother, is what!" came the snapped reply from the other Guardian. Dot looked puzzled, but couldn't get a word in as the jeep lurched away at full tilt, kicking up dust and small stones in its  
wake.   
  
"Dot!" Bob yelled over the racket, "Get the detonator set!"   
  
The sprite nodded, and ran back to the device as Bob caught up to her.   
  
"What's going on, Bob? Why is she going back out there?"  
  
He closed his eyes as he caught his breath.   
  
"It's Enzo, Dot. He got into the Game somehow, and brought Adena with him."  
  
Dot buried her face in her hands.   
  
"Oh, Enzo!"   
  
The Guardian floored the accelerator as she hit the bridge, anger in her every deliberate movement. She'd done her best to keep Adena out of the Games, safe, and now these idiots show up and create chaos in the matter of a few nanos!   
  
  
Enzo spotted the approaching vehicle, and hoped it wasn't one of the User's allies. When he saw who it was, though, he found himself wishing it had been - anything would be easier to deal with than the dark fury that screeched and spun round on its back wheels to a stop just in front of them.   
  
Adena was first on her feet as her mother got out of the jeep.   
  
"Mom!"   
  
"Adena! Careful!"   
  
She scooped the child up in her arms and ducked as a bullet ricocheted off the car's back bumper. She gave the girl a helmet, and sat her in the jeep, then turned to Enzo. He gulped.   
  
"You and I are going to have words after we get out of this Game," she hissed at him. "Assuming we get out of this Game *alive*, that is."   
  
"I'm sorry!" Enzo blubbed, just before she picked him up roughly by the collar and deposited him on the front seat next to Adena.  
  
"Down!" she yelled.  
  
Another hail of bullets sang as they struck the jeep. The Guardian pushed the two young sprites down until there was a brief respite, then climbed behind the wheel, wrapped an arm around Adena's shoulders, and hit the accelerator. The tyres spun in place for just an instant, then the car shot forward, Enzo clinging to the car seat for dear life and hoping Adena's mother wouldn't delete him once they got to the other side.  
  
Bob watched the proceedings through his binoculars.   
  
"She's got them both - Go!"  
  
Dot nodded, and yanked up on the detonator.   
  
"Bob, shouldn't I wait - " she hesitated, worried for Enzo.  
  
"Dot! Now!" He could see the User running towards the buggy; then tipping it over, checking to see if it still ran... "DOT!" he yelped, dropping the binoculars and placing his hands over hers, forcing the  
detonator's plunger down.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Bob opened his eyes.   
  
"Oh no."  
  
"It's on a five second delay!" Dot said.   
  
Bob looked horrified. "We don't have five seconds!"  
  
"It was *her* idea!"   
  
  
The jeep raced across the bridge. Adena was clapping her hands, urging her mother to go faster. The Guardian gritted her teeth, resisting an admonishment, and chanced a brief look in the wing mirror. She could see the User turning over the buggy, presumably to try and use it to get across the bridge after them. Cursors! Why hadn't the dynamite gone off yet?! She raced through the possibilities in her head, and shook it at each one. Reluctantly, she slammed on the brakes, and brought the straining vehicle to an abrupt stop.   
  
"No, Adena. Stay put," she said, as the young sprite tried to get out.   
  
"But Mom - "  
  
"Adena! Don't argue with me! Sit down!"  
  
Adena stopped, and stood stock still, somewhat shocked at her unusually sharp tone. She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, honey, but you need to sit tight, ok?"   
  
Adena sniffed and nodded slowly, then sat back down with Enzo. The Guardian sighed, and reached into the back of the car, searching the various contents stuffed randomly into it. A split-nano later, she found what she was looking for, and yanked it out with a, "Yes!"  
  
Enzo's purple eyes widened. "Whoa!"   
  
She stepped out of the car, and hefted the bazooka onto her shoulder. "Enzo... cover her ears; keep her head down. I don't want her to see this."  
  
He nodded dumbly, and reached over to the girl, who fought him to begin with, but after a sharp word from her mother, gave in.   
  
She flipped up the sight on the weapon, and tried to calm herself down. Her emotions were going to get the better of her if she didn't rein them in. She could be mad at the newcomers later. Right now she had to end the Game. She took a deep breath, and lined up the target - the User. Bracing herself for the recoil, she paused just a moment before hitting the launch button.  
  
  
Dot grabbed the binoculars from Bob as they watched anxiously. The connections to the detonator were right; they were just waiting for the delay to kick out. Bob mentally counted in his head... 3 more seconds...  
  
There was an explosion on the bridge.  
  
"That can't be the dynamite!" he said. Dot turned to him.  
  
"No, it wasn't - she used a rocket launcher!"  
  
Bob snatched the binoculars back again. He saw the Guardian piling back into the jeep with the two children as the explosion rocked the structure. She'd blown up the buggy, and the fire was going to set off a chain reaction with the dynamite! She'd managed to take away the last but one life of the User with that shot, but there was still one more to go.  
  
The worst thing about this was that there was nothing he or Dot could do but wait.  
  
The last nanos of the Game were the longest of their lives.  
  
  
----- 


	7. Gemini, Part 7

Gemini, Part 7  
[the duplicate 'Bob' has a more detailed profile at the Fictives Corner - http://glitchbob.tripod.com/robin.html ]  
  
  
  
  
GAME OVER.   
  
Bob opened his eyes to find themselves back in Mainframe's sector 080. He sighed with relief.   
  
"Dot, I think we did it!"  
  
"Oh, you did it all right."  
  
Bob turned. To his horror, his counterpart was still here... and boy, was she offlined! She strode up to him, a dark look on her face, and prodded him hard in the breastplate of his Guardian armour.  
  
"I think it's time you people left my system. Now."  
  
Bob glanced over at Dot, who was busy comforting Enzo. He looked back at his doppelganger, who continued to glare at him.  
  
"We would if we could, honestly..." he began. He was interrupted by the excited Adena, who came running up to the two Guardians, a big grin all over her round face.   
  
"Mom, I want to be a Guardian!"   
  
Her mother sighed.   
  
"I'll deal with you in a nano," she said to Bob, before turning her full attention to Adena; going down on one knee to be at eye-level with the little girl. "Adena, no. You are *not* going to be a Guardian. Do you hear me? It's not fun. It's dangerous. I play the Games to stop you and everyone else here from being hurt! Do you understand me? We almost got nullified in there! You are not to do that again!"   
  
The girl's bottom lip began to quiver. "Adena..." she said in exasperation, and then drew the child close to her in a bearhug. "I almost lost you, baby. Please. Don't follow me into the Games."  
  
Adena mumbled a reply that Bob didn't quite catch, but he knew it must have been an affirmative, as her mother pulled back and kissed the young sprite on the forehead.   
  
"So much for your theory, Bob," Dot muttered.  
  
Bob shot Dot a scathing look.   
  
"I don't have much to work with here. Glitch still can't give me any stats."  
  
"Theory?" echoed his counterpart as she stood back up. Bob looked sheepish for a moment. She drew a hand over her face. "I think it's time for explanation number three, don't you?"   
  
* * *   
  
  
"All right. Let's try this from the top once more."   
  
The five of them were back at the Diner; the female Guardian's car still a mangled mess outside. If it had been under any other circumstances, Enzo would have found it incredibly funny. But right now he didn't feel like doing much of anything. He sat between Bob and Dot, and instead decided to find new and exciting patterns in the tabletop, lending only half an ear to the conversation. Adena sat in another booth across the Diner - albeit under protest - where her mother could keep a watchful eye on her.  
  
"Dot was telling the truth," Bob started. "We are from another system."   
  
She looked unimpressed. "Go on."  
  
"Well... it's just that our system... is very similar to this one. OK, it's identical. Almost."   
  
"And you couldn't tell me this the first time around?"  
  
"It's not just that." Bob shifted uneasily.   
  
"I guess not, or you wouldn't have lied to me twice before."  
  
He sighed. "All right. I can't think of any better way to put this. We'd like nothing better than to get back home. But we can't get home because this isn't a real system. I can't open up a portal and take us out of here because this isn't real. And you know what else? This isn't even a real Game."  
  
Dot and Enzo stared at him.  
  
"What?!" all three of them chorused. The other Guardian then buried her face in her hands.   
  
"You three are insane."  
  
Bob shook his head.   
  
"No. I can prove it." He saw her begin to protest, but cut in. "Let me ask you something. Do you remember the last Game you played before we got here? Have you ever seen who owns this Diner? Have you never wondered why you and Adena are the only sprites here?"   
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" she frowned.   
  
"While we've been here, I've had Glitch keep an eye on the power levels of this 'Game.' A real Game's energy levels, once the initial surge is over, are fairly steady. This one's energy signatures, according to Glitch's readings, are all over the place."  
  
His counterpart narrowed her eyes at him. "And this proves what?"  
  
His expression was grave as he continued. "I had some time to think while we were coming back from sector 080. I put some things together, and the only logical conclusion is that this whole scenario is one big distraction, and you were designed to keep us here. There's only one virus I know who'd go to  
all this trouble."  
  
"Megabyte!" Dot breathed.   
  
"I *knew* Megabreath was up to something!" Enzo said.   
  
Bob nodded. "I have a bad feeling that there's more to it than just keeping us here. I think he's got something bigger in mind, and this is simply a convenient method to distract us."  
  
The other Guardian stood, clearly agitated by this.  
  
"Wait just one nano. I'm a distraction to keep you here?" she echoed, incredulously. Bob met his double's gaze as she looked down at him.   
  
"I checked your code against mine. You're a clone. A double. Except for a two per cent differential which I presume determines gender, they match precisely. Beats me how Megabyte got hold of my code, though..."  
  
"Bob, there was a brief power surge in the Archives a while back," Dot said. "We just passed it off to a problem in the core and ran some tests. Nothing unusual showed up at the time, though. It wouldn't surprise me if Megabyte hired someone - if it was hacked, it was by someone who knew what they were doing and how to cover it up."  
  
"It makes sense," he replied.   
  
The female Guardian pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes briefly, and sighed.   
  
"All right, dork. That does it. Get out. All of you."  
  
Bob raised his hands, palms outwards, in an attempt to try and calm the agitated sprite down. "Let me - "  
  
"No!" she fumed, glaring at him. "I've had more than enough of your insane rambling! Leave!"  
  
Bob looked to Dot and Enzo, who nodded. The two got up from the booth and exited the Diner as he remained seated.   
  
"Where are they going, Mom?" Adena yelled.   
  
"They're going home, Adena. Stay where you are."  
  
The little sprite frowned in annoyance, pursing her lips, but remained where she was. Her mother redirected her attention to Bob. "Why are you still here? Are you not content with telling me I'm part of some kind of bizarre experiment?"   
  
Bob looked back at her calmly from the other side of the table.  
  
"Answer me this. What was the last Game to come down here? How do you open a portal or mend a tear without a keytool? Do you even remember when you first came here? Know who Adena's father is?"  
  
"What - ?"   
  
"Answer me! If this is real and you are too, then you can answer me!"  
  
"I..." she faltered, her angry expression subsiding suddenly, doubt taking hold.   
  
Silence; then -   
  
"I...I don't know..." she said eventually, confusion bringing a puzzled frown to her face.   
  
He pressed on. "Can you tell me when you first took Adena to Floating Point Park? When she spoke her first word? Coloured her first picture?"  
  
She looked at him, then to her daughter across the Diner, who was busy playing with the salt and pepper shakers. Frantically she searched her memory, but kept coming up blank. She sank back into her seat.  
  
"I don't remember," she whispered.   
  
At that moment, she knew it was all true. She looked back at him, suddenly vulnerable, uncertain. "I don't remember anything. I know I'm a Guardian, I know I have a job to do... and how to do it. But I don't recall what I did more than a couple of nanos before you got here."   
  
"That's the Guardian protocol in my code," Bob said. "You have my skills, but not my experience. Look... I know this isn't easy for you... but we have to find what's powering this whole thing and destroy it."  
  
She stared at the table for several moments before responding.   
  
"And what happens when this place disappears? Do I go with it?"  
  
Bob shook his head. "No. There's no reason you'd be deleted. Your code is mine, remember. Which is what leads me to believe Megabyte has something else planned."  
  
She nodded, not looking up from the table.   
  
"What about my daughter?" she asked quietly. Bob didn't respond. She glanced up at him, panic spreading across her face. He couldn't maintain eye contact, choosing to stare at his hands instead.   
  
"Bob, please tell me..."  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, desperately wishing he didn't have to break this to her.   
  
"Adena's my life! She's all I have! There has to be a way..."   
  
"She doesn't share your... my... our code. I don't know why."  
  
The two shared an uneasy silence once more. Bob wanted to say something useful, but he knew nothing he said right now would help. She buried her face in her hands.   
  
"Go," she said.   
  
"What?"  
  
She looked up at him. "Go. Go and end this. If your system is in danger, then you have to defend it. Find this power source and destroy it. Do what you have to. The longer you stay here..."  
  
Bob nodded, slowly, and got up from the booth.  
  
"Do you want to come with us?" he asked. She declined.  
  
"No. I want to be here. With Adena. You understand."  
  
He glanced at the young sprite, who was still preoccupied with the salt and pepper shakers, moving them round the table in a mock battle. He sighed, hoping he'd never have to face losing a child himself; not envying his double's position. What was Megabyte playing at?   
  
"I understand," he said, finally, turning back to face the other Guardian. She didn't look up; her face was a mask.   
  
"Go on. Go."   
  
He'd gotten to the exit when she called after him. "Bob..."   
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm sorry. About calling you a dork, I mean."   
  
She smiled sadly at him. He nodded.  
  
"Apology accepted," he said, as he pushed open the door and walked outside.  
  
  
------ 


	8. Gemini, Part 8

Gemini, Part 8  
  
  
Dot and Enzo met Bob as he came out of the Diner, letting the door close behind him before he leaned against the entranceway and sighed heavily, closing his eyes.   
  
"What happened?" Enzo asked, anxiously.  
  
Bob met the young sprite's gaze. "I just told a mother she had to say goodbye to her child."  
  
Dot bit her lip. "You mean she...?"  
  
He nodded, and pushed himself away from the wall. "Come on, guys. Let's end this. Glitch - locate power spikes!"  
  
His keytool whirred and chattered. Bob called up a vidwindow, and transferred its output so all of them could see.   
  
"I've had Glitch locate the largest power surges in the system, and triangulate probable power sources," he explained, as Dot scanned the map.   
  
"Looks like there's at least three generators," she said. "They'd have to be big, to power this place." She frowned. "It's a *lot* of power. More than it takes to power the Archives. How in the Net did he get it?"  
  
"How isn't as important as where," Bob replied.   
  
"I think we'll do this faster if we split up," Dot said. "The sooner we're out of here the better."  
  
The Guardian nodded, then glanced back inside the Diner at his counterpart. "Bob? Are you all right?"  
  
"I feel like I just handed out a deletion sentence, Dot."   
  
She looked sympathetic, and gently squeezed his arm.  
  
"It'll be OK."  
  
---  
  
Adena slid out of the booth as Bob departed, and ran to her mother's side. Her face was buried in her hands.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
The Guardian started, sitting bolt upright and dropping her hands to see her daughter gazing enquiringly back at her with those violet eyes.   
  
"Oh. I'm sorry, sweetheart."  
  
Adena frowned. "What's wrong? What's going on?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong," she replied, trying her best to put on a reassuring smile. The little sprite didn't look convinced. She sighed, and then recalled Bob's words to her: /Can you tell me when you first took Adena to Floating Point Park? When she spoke her first word? Coloured her first picture?/  
  
She frowned. She could choose to sit here and feel sorry for herself, or she could do something constructive. She went with the latter.  
  
"Adena, why don't you sit here with me and we'll colour a few JPEG's together?"  
  
"OK." Adena went back to the other table, picked up her backpack, then returned to slide into the booth next to her mother. She settled in, and looked at her again. "Are you sure you're ok, Mom?"  
  
The Guardian sniffed, and tried to ignore the pangs of guilt. "I'm fine, honey. Just fine." She took the backpack from the girl, and began rummaging through it, determined to make the most of these last nanos. She found the colouring pad and activated the paint program. As Adena searched through the list of templates, the Guardian glanced out of the window, and saw the three sprites splitting up, heading towards different sections of the system.   
  
*I hope you're wrong about this, Bob,* she thought, turning back to her daughter and placing an arm around the child's shoulders. *User, let him be wrong.*  
  
----  
  
Enzo stared up at the huge power generator as it churned noisily. He guessed it must be easily three times his height... and four times as ugly.   
  
"Take it out any way you can," Bob had said. "It doesn't matter how, just as long as you make sure Megabyte can't use it again."   
  
The young sprite examined the machinery, taking in all the buttons, switches and gauges, the long snaking pipes pumping the energy inside and around. He rubbed his hands together and popped his knuckles, a huge grin spreading all over his face.   
  
"Where to begin?" he mused aloud. "Let me see... Tiff, Targa, Bitmap, Ico... ah, forget it, let's just do this..."  
  
With a grand maestro flourish, Enzo began hitting switches and buttons and pulling levers in quick succession. After a few moments of this random attack, the generator shuddered, coughed, and fell silent. Enzo stopped his assault for a nanosecond.   
  
"Well, that was easy," he said, almost disappointed.   
  
Suddenly, the game *rippled*. Enzo stepped back from the generator, watching the bizarre effect. "Coolness!"   
  
As he watched, he slowly became aware of a high-pitched whine. He frowned, puzzled, as it increased in intensity.  
  
"What *is* that... uh-oh..."   
  
----  
  
The explosion rocked the Diner. Adena looked up from her paint program, a confused expression on her round face.   
  
"What was that?"   
  
Her mother took a deep breath and smiled. "It's nothing to worry about," she said dismissively. She changed the subject swiftly; more for her own benefit than for the child's. "Hey, that's turning out really well..."  
  
----  
  
Dot looked up as she heard the noise, and saw the ripple effect trailing through the fake sky. She allowed herself to watch it for a nano, the very fabric of the system beginning to fade just a little.   
  
"One down, two to go," she murmured, turning her attentions back to the huge grey generator that stood glowering at her with gauges for eyes. It was Megabyte's work all right. Nobody else would go to so much trouble. Nobody else, she thought wryly, could make such an inanimate object so intimidating.  
  
She decided how best to go for the proverbial jugular as she eyed the large network of cables.   
  
"Plate frisbee," she grinned, suddenly recalling the brief incident in the Diner. "Thanks for the idea, Bob."  
  
Dot stepped off her zipboard and picked it up in one hand as it decompiled to a single slender disc. She stepped back, making sure she had enough distance to dive for cover if need be, and gauged the weight of the zipboard and her target.   
  
"Well... easy come, easy go," she shrugged, telling herself she needed an upgraded 'board anyway to silence the protesting voice of reason in her head.   
  
She stood a moment, sighted up, and then let fly with her improvised weapon. It was only after the zipboard left her hand that she realised she had never played Frisbee before.  
  
She couldn't bear to watch.  
  
----   
  
It couldn't be brushed off this time.   
  
Adena gasped, dropping her paint program as the entire Diner suddenly became semi-transparent. The pad clattered to the table. She looked immediately to her mother.   
  
"Mom! Something's wrong!" she cried, seeing the Guardian's troubled expression. She didn't reply, but gazed through the ghost-image of the table. "Mom?" Adena frowned, "What's wrong? What's going on? You can fix it, right?"  
  
The Guardian closed her brown eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath before turning to her daughter and speaking quietly.   
  
"I'm sorry, Adena. I... I can't fix it this time."  
  
She had to look away, unable to bear the shock that registered on the young sprite's face. She didn't want to realise that Adena was already beginning to disappear before her eyes; didn't want to admit that she was about to say goodbye...  
  
It was a nano or two before she realised that the girl had climbed into her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck.   
  
"I'm scared, Mom."  
  
The Guardian took another shaky breath, then encircled Adena tightly in her arms.   
  
"It's all right. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."  
  
*But you are, little one,* she thought. *And I wish... right now I wish I could go with you.*  
  
She buried her face in the young sprite's hair and shut herself off to a world that was rapidly falling apart.  
  
----  
  
Bob watched the Game as it began to deteriorate. Part of him was relieved to know that this would finally be over. Another part of him was agonising over what to do about his counterpart once they were back in Mainframe proper. He knew Megabyte wouldn't go to all this trouble for no reason. There had to be something else...  
  
He turned to the last generator. He'd been waiting for Enzo and Dot to accomplish their tasks first, using Glitch to scan the power emissions. It was fairly obvious now that the fake Game was dying, its energy reserves depleted. The almost-transparent Mainframe allowed Bob to see outside the cube, to the real system outside.   
  
It looked quiet.   
  
Too quiet.  
  
He redirected his attention to the machinery. "Glitch - cutter!"   
  
The keytool obligingly turned into a circular saw, and the Guardian made short work of cutting into the control panel. Prying the metal up, he could now see the wiring and circuitry that was the brain of the generator. This would take only a split-nano. Yanking a fistful of the wires out, Bob paused. This was it. The last threads of this bizarre reality. The last strands of a life.  
  
He set his jaw, then sheared the wires with a single stroke. 


	9. Gemini, Part 9

Gemini, Part 9  
  
  
Silence was death's lament.  
  
It was like the whole system had held its breath... exhaled... and then expired, with not so much as a bye or leave.   
  
Bob opened his eyes. It was over.   
  
It seemed so... wrong, somehow. Like there should have been a huge explosion, or... *something*. But there was nothing. It made it twice as bad. He sighed, and looked around, assessing the damage. The debris of Enzo's generator lay strewn about the sector.   
  
A vidwindow suddenly appeared in front of him, startling the sprite from his melancholy state. Phong looked highly agitated. The picture seemed a little fuzzy; as if the signal was being jammed.  
  
"Bob! Megabyte's forces are attacking the Principal Office! We need you here now!"  
  
No wonder it was quiet, he realised - they were in a sector too far away from the PO to have seen the chaos. Megabyte planned this well.  
  
He nodded. "Dot and I'll be right there. What's your current status?"   
  
"Megabyte managed to somehow tap our power reserves and drained them enough to prevent shields being raised. We are on minimal power and - "  
  
A background explosion threw the elderly sprite out of sight.   
  
"Phong!" Bob yelled.   
  
The image crackled, fizzed and finally disappeared. Dot and Enzo joined the Guardian as he closed the vidwindow, a dark look on his face.   
  
"We were right, Dot," he said. "Megabyte snared us like nulls, and he's going for the Principal Office right now!"  
  
She nodded. "Let's get going."   
  
He agreed, but as they turned to go, he stopped. "Wait," Bob said. "I need a nano."  
  
"Bob, we can't waste time..." Dot trailed off, realising as she saw what he was looking at. Or rather, who.   
  
She was sitting some distance away, with her back to the trio.   
  
"I won't be long," he said.   
  
  
Her knees were drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around them as she stared blankly ahead. Bob stood behind her at what he figured was a respectful distance. He tried to find the words to say -   
  
"Leave me alone."   
  
The words were clipped, firm. He looked pained.   
  
"I'm sor - "  
  
"Just leave me the frag alone, Bob."   
  
Her tone had a forceful, bitter edge. He didn't need to see her face to know that she meant it. She'd put up her own personal firewall, and nothing was going to get in. Or out, for that matter. He sighed, and walked back to Dot and Enzo. Dot looked at him enquiringly as he approached. He shook his head. She nodded.   
  
"Let's go," she said.   
  
Bob and Enzo compiled their zipboards. Dot reached for the disk on her belt, then realised suddenly that she didn't have one anymore. Bob saw her hesitate.   
  
"Dot? Where's your zipboard?"   
  
Dot looked sheepish, and glanced in the direction of the machinery she'd helped destroy. Bob followed her gaze, and saw the remains of her zipboard embedded in a now-defunct generator. He grinned wryly. "Well, that's original," he said. Dot blushed. "Need a lift?"   
  
***  
  
Chaos engulfed the trio as they approached the Principal Office. The CPU's were scattered, disorganised in their desperate defence. The Principal Office's shields had been compromised, the dome blackened and charred from multiple hits. The Guardian assessed the situation.   
  
"This is bad," he muttered. "This is very bad."  
  
"Whoa," Enzo declared, his eyes like plates. "Megabreath's got us surrounded!"  
  
Dot peered over Bob's shoulder from her precarious perch on his zipboard.   
  
"Is there any way to get inside?" she asked.   
  
"I can try establishing communications," he said, fiddling with Glitch. "I'm hoping they'll have barricaded themselves in." He muttered, and fiddled again. "Finally... Specks! Where's Phong? Is he OK?"  
  
Dot craned her neck to see the image on Glitch's screen. It was fuzzy, crackling with static, but it was better than nothing.  
  
"He's all right, sir," the binome replied, "But we could really use your help in here."   
  
Bob nodded. Dot spoke up from over Bob's shoulder.   
  
"I'll help coordinate the CPU's from inside, Specks. Just have those stats ready for me as soon as I get there."  
  
"We're low on resources and power, ma'am, but I'll see what I can do."  
  
"I know I can count on you," she said confidently.   
  
"Yes, ma'am!" The binome saluted, and the communication ended.   
  
'I'll stay out here with the CPU's," Bob said, eyeballing the mayhem around them. "Glitch and I'll hold them off as long as we can."   
  
"Right." Dot nodded, and the three headed towards the Principal Office.   
  
***  
  
Dot Matrix smoothly took charge of ops as soon as she entered the war room, Enzo in tow.   
  
"Specks! What's our current situation?"   
  
The binome tapped his readout screens, which flickered erratically in the drab emergency lighting. "Almost half our CPU's are down. Somehow Megabyte managed to drain the Principal Office's energy reserves to almost nothing, so we're functioning on emergency power only..."  
  
Dot's eyes narrowed. So that's where he got the energy to create that Game, she thought. Double whammy.   
  
"Right," she said, and donned her glasses to inspect her own console. Its tactical displays fizzed and popped. Dot wasn't in the mood for this. She set her jaw, and gave the display a sharp thump with a balled fist. It whined in protest, then cleared. "Better," she muttered. "OK. Give me an open channel to the CPU's, STAT."  
  
"Yes, ma'am!"   
  
"Dot?"  
  
She turned from her station. "What is it, Enzo?"  
  
"This is really bad, isn't it?"  
  
She saw the young sprite's anxious face, and sighed, drawing him to her in a tight hug.   
  
"It'll be all right. I promise."   
  
"You're on, ma'am."   
  
Dot sniffed, then twirled Enzo's baseball cap as she pulled away from him.   
  
"Chin up, kiddo," she smiled. Enzo nodded, but didn't move from her side. She turned back to the console, and slid immediately into her no-nonsense combat mode. She quickly assessed the tactical displays, and began relaying commands. "All right! Alpha squadron! Form square at these co-ordinates - G4 by H9! Beta squadron, file behind. Omega, Delta, I want you to support the flanks. Move it!" She threw a glance at Phong, who looked somewhat dazed but otherwise all right. "Phong, do we have any more units we can mobilise? At all?"  
  
The elderly sprite rolled over to her, adjusting his glasses.   
  
"We have everything movable in the air, my child."  
  
Dot chewed her bottom lip. "I think it's time we got some *immovable* things out there as well. Patch me through to the maintenance bay, Specks."  
  
  
***  
  
Bob dodged the gunfire, retaliating with short energy blasts from his keytool. As a rather rapid burst of fire unleashed itself from the opposition, he ducked behind a downed CPU briefly to allow Glitch to recover for a nano. Dot seemed to have the CPU's in a true defensive formation now, which gave him the chance to think about their options. Shielding was down. They were outnumbered in the air, but that had never stopped them from winning before. The Principal Office was in bad shape, though. Shields offlined nanos ago, over half the CPU's disabled, the power reserves at critical levels...   
  
He shook his head, unwilling to admit defeat. But where *was* Megabyte in all this, anyway? For that matter, where were Hack and Slash? He frowned. This still wasn't adding up. One of Megabyte's ABC's suddenly screamed past behind him, smoke billowing from its crumpled bonnet as it crashed to the ground. He chanced a quick glance around the defunct CPU, looking towards the Principal Office.   
  
Towing drones were being attached to defunct CPU's by the maintenance crews, then set on autopilot and sent off into the fray. More targets to occupy the enemy, or at the very least, get them to trip over themselves. From the looks of it, that last crash had been a direct result of just such a tactic. It would work, provided their own CPU's didn't get tripped up as well.   
  
A bolt hit his makeshift shield, forcing him to duck. Bob waited a split-nano, then chanced a look over the CPU to see if the shot had been intentional or not. Then his eyes widened.   
  
"Uh-oh."   
  
***  
  
"Dot! Phong!"   
  
Bob came running into the war room. Dot looked up from her console, frustration evident on her face.  
  
"What's going on out there?" she asked, thumping her display again as it flickered. She sighed. "We just lost our visuals again."  
  
"Trouble. *Big* trouble."   
  
The Guardian called up a vidwindow. The picture was full of static, but after a nano Dot could see what he was talking about. Outside the Principal Office, three large ABC's mounted with heavy-duty missile launchers were taking up position.   
  
"If they hit us with just one of those, this place'll be pixel dust!"   
  
"What an astute observation, Ms. Matrix."  
  
The sprites turned to see the vidwindow that had just appeared in the middle of the war room. Dot's expression hardened.   
  
"Megabyte."  
  
  
---- 


	10. Gemini, Part 10

Gemini, Part 10  
The virus met the Command.com's hard glare with an air of indifference.  
  
"I won't waste my time on the usual pleasantries," he said, steepling his fingers.  
  
"Call off your lackeys, Megabyte," she scowled.  
  
Megabyte raised an eyebrow, a look of mild amusement crossing his face.  
  
"I hardly think *you* are in a position to make demands, Ms. Matrix."  
  
"What do you want?" Bob cut in.  
  
The virus' expression hardened.  
  
"You know very well what I want, Guardian. And the Principal Office is my way of ensuring I get it."  
  
Bob exchanged looks with Dot and Phong, then shook his head.  
  
"I won't give you a portal to the SuperComputer, Megabyte. Even if that means losing the Principal Office."  
  
Megabyte looked bored. "Yes, yes, I suspected as much. Which is why I invested in a little extra... shall we say... incentive?"  
  
The sprites frowned, as the vidwindow's view panned from the virus to show Hack and Slash - and the sultry sprite they were restraining in their vice-like grip.  
  
Bob's doppelganger.  
  
"No!" the Guardian's eyes widened in recognition, as he heard Dot's sharp intake of breath behind him. The view panned back to the virus, whose smug look angered him all the more.  
  
"I'll be expecting you soon, Guardian," Megabyte said, and promptly ended the communication.  
  
Bob's knuckles turned white as he gripped the console, his expression grim. Dot turned to him.  
  
"Crash it! I shouldn't have left her alone. I should have seen it coming!" he hissed, angry at himself more than anything.  
  
"Bob, you can't give him the portal!"  
  
He looked up, met her gaze. "I have to do something, Dot. I can't let him hurt her. It goes against everything I am."  
  
"But we don't know if she - "  
  
"Dot, she's not viral, you know that! A little - "  
  
"Confrontational?"  
  
" - tetchy, maybe, but not viral." He changed tack. "Look, can you deal with the ABC's while I deal with Megabyte?"  
  
Dot paused for a nano.  
  
"I... I think so, but I'll need - "  
  
"Um, excuse me," Phong butted in, "but would someone mind explaining just what is going on around here? Hmm?"  
  
The two sprites suddenly realised the entire population of the war room was staring at them. They shrugged helplessly at the elderly sprite.  
  
"It's... complicated, Phong -" Bob started, before Dot cut him off.  
  
"Bob - get out of here. If someone's life really is in danger, you need to go and help them. Besides, it'll buy us enough time to get some power reserves back online."  
  
The Guardian nodded, and left the war room. She turned to Phong. "Phong, I'll explain as we go. Well. I'll try. I'm not even sure I know myself..."  
  
* * *  
  
"Herr Doktor, is the cloning equipment salvageable?"  
  
The scientist turned from the remains of his workstation.  
  
"I cannot be sure at this point, mein Grossenbyte."  
  
The virus made a minor sound of annoyance as he turned to the captive sprite, who was smirking at the brief path of destruction she'd managed to create before being recaptured. He leaned in towards her, gripping her face in one hand so she could not look away.  
  
"Smile all you like, copy," he hissed, enjoying the anger that flickered in her eyes. "You have served your purpose well."  
  
"You won't get away with this!" she countered.  
  
He regarded her with a critical eye before continuing.  
  
"An excellent reproduction, Herr Doktor - right down to the irritating show of defiance. Tell me, my dear... did you enjoy your little... family?"  
  
She lashed out with renewed rage, cursing and straining futilely against the iron grip of Hack and Slash as Megabyte pulled away, clearly amused by her reaction.  
  
"Having some problems, Megabyte?"  
  
The virus turned to see Bob stepping off his zipboard, eyeing the wrecked equipment with a smirk. Megabyte dismissed the mess with a vague wave of his hand.  
  
"Nothing that can't be resolved. Your doppelganger is proving to be just as annoying as the original. I'll be glad to get rid of it."  
  
Bob narrowed his eyes, then glanced over at his double. "Are you OK?"  
  
She avoided his gaze, choosing instead to stare at the floor. "I'm fine," she muttered, in a tone that suggested anything but.  
  
"Enough," said Megabyte. "My portal, if you please."  
  
The Guardian shook his head. "No. Let her go first. Then you get your precious portal."  
  
Megabyte feigned surprise. "Don't tell me you've formed an... *attachment* to this... duplicate?" He chuckled; a deep, low rumble. "Still. No matter. Portal first, then you're welcome to it."  
  
Bob tried not to show his annoyance at the virus' choice of terms for his doppelganger as he folded his arms.  
  
"Just show me where you've got your tear, Megabyte."  
  
* * *  
  
"So, that's what happened. What we don't understand is why Megabyte would go to so much trouble."  
  
Dot looked up at Phong from her workstation as she attempted to coax some life back into it. The elderly sprite steepled his fingers.  
  
"Megabyte's motivations have always been for power and control. He is prepared to go to any lengths to get to the SuperComputer," he said.  
  
She sighed. "But Bob doesn't have a plan - I know he doesn't. He's gone there to give Megabyte his portal to rescue this... copy. Somehow I don't think Megabyte's going to just hand her over willingly, even if he does - oh, come *on*..." Dot growled, and thumped the console once more. It responded with a half-hearted flicker. "Specky, if this plan is going to work, I need power!"  
  
"Yes sir - ma'am. We're working on it, but the power reserves are almost at zero per cent!"  
  
"Bob cannot go against his code," Phong replied. "He is a Guardian. To mend and defend. That includes anyone who might be in danger - copy or not."  
  
"And afterwards? What then?"  
  
"First, my child, we must make sure there *is* an after."  
  
"You're right, Phong," she nodded, and turned back to her workstation, then had an idea. "Specky! We need to leech some energy from the Core. Can you do that?"  
  
"It's risky, ma'am."  
  
Dot set her jaw. "It's a risk we're going to have to take."  
----- 


	11. Gemini, Part 11 (final)

Gemini, Part 11 (final)  
There was a strange beauty to tears; the way they flashed, sparked, revolved, changing rotation every split-nano. It was a mesmerising effect. Bob would usually watch tears for a little while before repairing them, feeling the sheer energy as it bathed him in its flickering light; as though he could somehow absorb that energy for himself.  
  
This time, however, Bob felt nothing but frustration as he watched Megabyte's captured tear spit and hiss in its makeshift prison. He had a vague idea of what he had to do, but he wasn't sure it would work. And with the PO under the guns of the ABC's, ready to fire on Megabyte's command should he screw up, the Guardian found himself wondering just how in the Net he was going to pull this off - and save everyone to boot.  
  
"I'm waiting, Guardian."  
  
"I want your word on this, Megabyte. I give you the portal, you call off your ABC's and let - " he paused for a nano, as if searching for the right term - "my friend - go."  
  
"Yes, yes, yes," the virus answered, waving a hand dismissively. He stood at the bottom of the ramp with the Guardian, Hack and Slash not far away with his captive.  
  
"Megabyte!"  
  
"Very well. You have my word."  
  
Bob steeled himself. This had better work, he mused, as he raised his keytool to face the tear.  
  
"Glitch - portal!"  
  
* * *  
"Easy as she goes, Specky - if they sense a power buildup we're history. We just need enough power for the forward shields. Are the CPU's standing by?"  
  
"Yes sir - ma'am."  
  
Dot tapped her screen anxiously. She had to time this just right - just as the power levels peaked...  
  
* * *  
  
The random chaos of the tear dissolved, leaving in its place a shining globe that reflected its destination.  
  
"The SuperComputer!" Megabyte breathed, his eyes widening.  
  
"The deal, Megabyte," Bob cut in, not wanting the virus to glean any more pleasure from the experience than was necessary. "Let her go."  
  
Megabyte gestured with a nod to Hack and Slash, and they released the Guardian's doppelganger. She snatched her arms away from their grip, glaring at them before she moved to approach Bob.  
  
"And now, Guardian... I thank you for your time."  
  
Bob frowned at the virus as he walked past him, towards the portal. He couldn't help but ask.  
  
"Megabyte - why? Why go to so much trouble? Why did you create her?"  
  
Megabyte stopped, and turned to look at the Guardian.  
  
"Why? Why, indeed. Perhaps it was simply to see the look on your face when I did *this* - "  
  
Time seemed to slow down for Bob as, in one swift movement, the virus swiveled, claws extended, and -  
  
"NO!"  
  
There was no time -  
  
-a gasp -  
  
Silence.  
  
Bob was too shocked to move. His double was staring into Megabyte's face, every muscle in her face registering pain. A single claw protruded from her back, having penetrated her chest dead centre. Slowly she looked down, then up at Bob, a confused expression on her face. She choked, unable to speak as energy welled up in her throat.  
  
The virus retracted his claw, leering at Bob as she collapsed to the floor, her slumped form flickering.  
  
"Yes... I rather thought I would enjoy that," he mused.  
  
It was all Bob could do to not respond, his hands balling into fists in an attempt to control his rage as Megabyte turned, and strode towards the portal. *Not yet...* he thought. *Let him go, then you can help her.*  
  
Despite his anger, he focused his attention on the virus, waiting for the right moment -  
  
*Now.*  
* * *  
"Now!"  
  
Dot hit the controls, and mentally counted down. "Five... four... three..."  
"ARGH!"  
  
Lt. Chauncey turned to the viral binome beside him, who had just thrown his headphones off and was clutching his head in pain.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Feedback, sir!" the binome winced, "can't... monitor..."  
  
"Sir! Our sensors have gone offline! They can't handle the frequency!"  
  
"Those rebel scum..." he growled. "Prepare to fire!"  
  
"We can't lock on! Too much interference!"  
"...one. Here goes. Specky, get me those shields! Squadron Alpha! Move in on those ABC's!"  
  
"Yes, sir - ma'am!"  
  
"Now we either win or get shot to pieces," she murmured, then looked to the vidwindow. "Bob... I hope you've got your ASCII covered over there."  
  
* * *  
  
Just as the virus crossed the threshold of the portal, Bob sprang into action.  
  
"Glitch - collapse portal!"  
  
The keytool chirruped, and sent out a narrow beam to the globe, forcing the portal to shrink, then vanish with a 'pop' into thin air. With Megabyte gone for now, the Guardian used the opportunity to dash over to his counterpart.  
  
"Hey..." he said softly, seeing her move slightly. Her eyes were open, but she was still flickering, energy bleeding from the open wound in her chest. Gently he moved to lift her, to take her away from the Tor, get her medical attention, but he found her resisting him, pushing against his shoulders with her hands. It was a weak effort, but an insistent one.  
  
"Come on, I have to get you out of here!" he urged. She shook her head weakly, pushed him away again.  
  
"No," she rasped, "leave me. Leave me alone."  
  
Bob looked exasperated. "This is no time for being stubborn! You'll delete if we don't get you to the Principal Office!"  
  
She simply looked at him. Bob met her pained gaze, then realised. She *wanted* to delete.  
  
* * *  
  
The CPU's took their chance, and as the Principal Office's forward shields came online, they began pummeling the ABC's with rapid fire, running rings around the temporarily incapacitated enemy.  
  
Dot exhaled, not realising she'd been holding her breath.  
  
"Bring them down!" she ordered.  
  
* * *  
  
Bob's stomach turned. He shook his head defiantly. "No... no! I can't let you delete!"  
  
"Please - "  
  
"No!"  
  
"Please, Bob. I've never asked anything of you. Just do this one thing for me. Let me go. I don't want to live like this."  
  
He closed his eyes for a moment.  
  
"I'm sorry. I can't. It's against my code."  
  
He lifted her gently into his arms, despite her increasingly strained protests.  
  
"Crash it, leave me!" she croaked, pummeling his duty armour, the strength draining her all the more. She winced, convulsed, fresh pain coursing through her body as Bob stepped onto his zipboard.  
  
"Save your energy," he said, as he flashed a warning glare at Hack and Slash, who wisely kept their distance.  
  
"I'll never forgive you for this, Bob," she said hoarsely, a look of pure hatred darkening her features.  
  
"Better get in line," he murmured in reply, as he took her out of the Tor.  
  
* * *  
  
"Specky! Report!"  
  
"Three ABC's down, ma'am. The others have been incapacitated or are retreating."  
  
Dot allowed herself a smile of satisfaction before getting back to the task at hand. "Any news from Bob?"  
  
Just as she said it, a vidwindow popped open in the war room. "Bob!"  
  
"Dot! Phong! Get the medlab ready! Hurry!"  
  
"What - " Dot started.  
  
"It's -" he trailed off, uncomfortable using his own name for his female counterpart. "It's my double," he finished. "I'm bringing her in - she's hurt - badly!"  
  
Dot exchanged looks with Phong. Bob noticed their hesitation.  
  
"Guys! Come on! She's not viral! I'll vouch for her! Please! She'll die if we don't do something!"  
  
Dot nodded at Phong, who inclined his head in acknowledgement and left the war room for the medlab.  
  
"Bob - what happened with Megabyte?"  
  
The Guardian allowed himself a smirk. "I gave him a one-way trip to Lost Angles," he replied. "I used an archived image to fake a view of the SuperComputer. As soon as he crossed the threshold, I closed the portal - by the time he realises, it'll be too late."  
  
Dot looked relieved as she returned the smile.  
  
"Well done, Bob. Will... will she be OK?"  
  
"I don't know, Dot."  
  
* * *  
"How is she, Phong?"  
  
"I have done all I can for her injuries, my son. I cannot vouch for her mental state, however."  
  
Bob glanced into the medlab through the plexiglass. His double was sitting at a table, head resting in one hand, staring into space. He sighed, living the moments in the Tor over again.  
  
"I'm going to try and talk to her," he said. "Thanks, Phong."  
  
The sprite nodded, and trundled away. Bob took a deep breath, and opened the door. He wasn't surprised that she didn't react to his entrance.  
  
"Hey," he said, walking up and sitting across from her at the table. She didn't look up, her brown eyes fixated on the tabletop. They sat in silence for several nanos, Bob uncertain what to say, his double reluctant to even acknowledge his presence. Her face was drawn, pale; dark circles beneath her dark eyes.  
  
He thought he had the right words, when -  
  
WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME.  
  
He cursed inwardly, and stood up from the table as the sky outside turned purple once more.  
  
"I'll be back later," he said to the sultry sprite, and turned to leave the room.  
  
"I meant what I said, Bob."  
  
The Guardian glanced back at her, surprised. She was actually looking at him now, a hard, cold stare that betrayed no sign of familiarity.  
  
"You said you wouldn't forgive me," he replied carefully.  
  
"All you had to do was walk away! But you couldn't even do that!"  
  
She was crying now, trying to hide her face behind her hands, every intake of breath punctuated by a stab of pain in her chest.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, and he meant it. "But I couldn't go against my code."  
  
"What am I supposed to do here?" she spat. "Be another Guardian? You know as well as I do that this place doesn't need two Guardians, much less a copy of you."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"Get out. Go play your Game."  
  
She buried her face in her hands. He reached out, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go away." She wrestled away from him. He withdrew, hurt. Then he remembered - the Game.  
  
"I *will* be back later. Like it or not," he said, not willing to let her get to him.  
  
"Suit yourself," she shrugged, wiping her face absently with the back of her hand. He sighed, and left the room.  
  
Dot was waiting for him as he left the medlab. Her expression turned to one of concern as she saw his face.  
  
"Bob? Is she OK?"  
  
He turned, and gazed back into the room briefly. Dot followed his gaze, saw the sullen sprite idly scratching at the tabletop.  
  
"To be honest, Dot... I don't think she is. I don't know if she'll *ever* be all right."  
  
Dot gently laid a hand on his arm. "Come on, Bob. Let's go kick some User ASCII. Take your mind off things. She'll come around." She glanced in once more at the doppelganger. "Time is the great healer, right?"  
  
Bob blew out his cheeks as the two headed out of the medical facility.  
  
"I hope you're right, Dot. I hope you're right."  
  
In the medlab, Bob's twin lifted her head briefly to spot the two sprites outside heading towards the Game. Beneath her fingernails, the tabletop bore five small, scrawled letters:  
  
A d e n a.  
  
------  
End  
[Thanks for making it this far! If you liked, please review! Tell your friends! etc. *g* - next in the arc: 'Picture Perfect' (in progress). 'The Mourning After' also features this 'doppelganger', albeit set a long time after this.] 


End file.
